News for Tool Hire, Equipment Hire & Plant Hire and Rental Professionals

Expect powerful growth at John F Hunt

24 October 2022

Expect powerful growth at John F Hunt

The recent economic and political turbulence has led to uncertainty in some quarters, so it was a positive tonic to talk to recently to David Hunt. He’s managing director of specialist hirer John F Hunt Power and tells me that business levels remain “ballistic”.  

“Some people might be saying the froth and fizz has gone out of the economy in the last couple of months, but from our generator hire perspective it most certainly has not. 

“We have been very active all year and July August and September were all close to records. If we could have sourced 300 more generators for the fleet, we’d have had them on hire.” 

Which is impressive, because the John F Hunt Power fleet currently totals no fewer than 2,100 generators and is growing, helped by the pro-active outlook of the business. 

“Last year we ordered 180 new Stage V machines for 2022 and because of supply chain disruption we’ve had about half so far. For 2023 we are ordering 400 generators totalling in excess of £20 million. That’s our biggest ever fleet investment and includes Stage V models up to 650kVA which can all be synchronised. 

“Demand for Stage V machines is growing. London is actively enforcing its Low Emission Zones and others will introduce them soon. Manchester, Birmingham and Glasgow won’t be far behind. Yes, the equipment is more expensive than Stage IIIa models but customers need it. Our hire rates have to reflect that investment.” 

The business is also exploring new technological developments. David tells me, for example, that John F Hunt Power has signed several NDAs (non-disclosure agreements) with companies involved in developing hydrogen powered generators and hydrogen production.  

In addition, the company has been successfully trialling products like battery power storage systems and the Punch Flybrid energy storage flywheel for some fascinating applications. “Our battery and Flybrid fleet is doubling every quarter,” added David.

And if that weren’t all, a new operation is being established within the John F Hunt Power business which again reflects the strength of the market and I’ll be reporting on that separately in due course. 

John F Hunt Power supplies customers throughout the country from its depots in Bristol, Grays (which last year relocated to a facility twice the size on the same industrial estate location), Halesowen, Livingston and Newcastle. There are also plans to move the Halesowen operation to a larger ‘mega-depot’ in due course.

“Overall, demand for power is going up and can only increase further,” adds Kevin Davies, managing director operations. “The UK just does not have sufficient generation infrastructure and it can’t keep pace. We often supply contractors with generators for two weeks to tide them over until they are connected to the grid, and the machines are still on hire six months later.” 

“Customers are busy across all the markets we serve. We had our best ever summer supplying event organisers, and sectors like industry, telecoms, utilities and health care are also very strong. 

“And our customer retention rate is very high. They value our service and we grow with them as they take us to their next project”. 

David agrees that the growth will continue. “People need power because they are using more devices that need charging, especially with the increase in electric vehicles. We’re having conversations with customers about their requirements for next year. 

“Yes, there will be economic headwinds but well-managed companies will prosper as we saw in the 2008 downturn. And in a recession, governments invariably invest in infrastructure development and spend their way out.” 

John F Hunt showed some of its equipment at the Showman’s Show, pictured, in Newbury last week.

Photo: Alan Guthrie


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